 Soil mechanics

 History of soil engineering

 What is soil and soil constituents

 Soil particle size

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OBJECTIVES

• Understand the Historical Context

• Define Soil and Its importance
• Identify soil constituents
• Understand Grain size and Grain Distribution
• Learn Soil Identification base on particle size
Soil mechanics is the branch of science that deals with the study
of the physical properties of soil and the behavior of soil masses
subjected to various types of forces.
Soils engineering is the application of the principles of soil
mechanics
to practical problems.
Geotechnical engineering is the subdiscipline of civil engineering
that involves natural materials found close to the surface of the
earth. It includes the application
of the principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics to the
design of foundations, retaining structures, and earth structures.

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 HISTORY

Beginning of use of soil in pre-historic time..

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 One of the most famous
examples of problems related
to soil bearing capacity and
foundations in the
construction of structures
prior to 18th century is the
Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.
The construction of the Tower
began in 1173 and last over
200 years.
 The tower has tilted in the
past to the east, north, west
and, finally, to the south.
 Recent investigations showed
that a weak clay layer exists
at a depth of about 11 m
below the ground surface
compression, which caused
the tower to tilt.

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HISTORY OF SOIL ENGINEERING.
 1930: Soil Mechanics was established as
branch of Civil Engineering
 Began:

18th century since then, the science of Soil

mechanics has evolved through 4 phases…

 Pre-classical (1700 A.D. to 1776 A.D.)

 Classical phase-1 (1776 A.D. to 1856 A.D.)

 Classical phase-2 (1856 A.D. to 1910 A.D.)

 Modern (1910 A.D. to present)

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 PRE-CLASSICAL PERIOD OF SOIL
MECHANICS
 This period concentrated on studies relating to
natural slope and unit weights of various types of
soils, as well as the semi empirical earth pressure
theories.

Henri Gautier (1660–1737)

studied the natural slopes of soils
when tipped in a heap for
formulating the design procedures
of retaining walls(1717).

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 Bernard Forest de
Belidor (1671–
1761 French
engg.) proposed a
theory for lateral
earth pressure on
retaining walls
and specified a
soil classification
system(1729).

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Francois Gadroy (1705–
1759)Reported the first
laboratory test results on a
76mm high retaining wall built
with sand backfill(1746).

Jean Rodolphe Perronet(1708-

1794) studied about slope
stability(1769).
CLASSICAL SOIL MECHANICS —
Phase I (1776–1856)

 Classical Soil Mechanics began in

1776 with Charles Coulomb’s (a
physicist, 1736– 1806) used the
principles of calculus for maxima
and minima to determine the
true position of the sliding
surface in soil behind a retaining
wall.

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Classical Soil Mechanics—Phase I (1776–1856)

• In 1790, the distinguished French civil engineer, Gaspard Clair Marie Riche
de Prony (1755–1839) included Coulomb’s theory in his leading textbook,
Nouvelle Architecture Hydraulique (Vol. 1).
• In 1820, special cases of Coulomb’s work were studied by French engineer
Jacques Frederic Francais (1775–1833) and by French applied mechanics
professor Claude Louis Marie Henri Navier (1785–1836). These special cases
related to inclined backfills and backfills supporting surcharge.
• In 1840, Jean Victor Poncelet (1788–1867), an army engineer and professor
of mechanics, extended Coulomb’s theory by providing a graphical method
for determining the magnitude of lateral earth pressure on vertical and
inclined retaining walls with arbitrarily broken polygonal ground surfaces.
• In 1846 Alexandre Collin (1808–1890), an engineer, provided the details for
deep slips in clay slopes, cutting, and embankments.
Classical Soil Mechanics—Phase II (1856–
1910)
• Henry Philibert Gaspard Darcy(1803-1858) defined the
term coefficient of permeability (or hydraulic
conductivity) of soil, a very useful parameter in
geotechnical engineering to this day.
• Sir George Howard Darwin (1845–1912), a professor of
astronomy, conducted laboratory tests to determine the
overturning moment on a hinged wall retaining sand in
loose and dense states of compaction.
• Joseph Boussinesq, a mathematician and physicist
(1842–1929), developed the theory of stress
distribution(1885).
• In 1887, Osborne Reynolds (1842–1912) demonstrated
the phenomenon of dilatancy in sand.
• Other notable studies duringthis period are those by
John Clibborn (1847–1938) and John Stuart
Beresford(1845–1925) relating to the flow of water
through sand bed and uplift pressure.
MODERN SOIL MECHANICS

 This period was marked

by a series of important
studies and publications
related to the mechanic
behavior of clays.
 Albert Atterberg (1846–
1916), a Swedish
chemist and soil
scientist, explained the
consistency of cohesive
soils by defining liquid,
plastic, and shrinkage
limits.

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 Arthur Bell (1874–1956), a
civil engineer from England,
developed relationships for
lateral pressure and
resistance in clay as well as
bearing capacity of shallow
foundations in clay.
 Wolmar Fellenius (1876–
1957), an engineer from
Sweden, developed the
stability analysis of
saturated clay slopes.
 Karl Terzaghi (1883–1963),
a civil engineer and
geologist from Austria,
developed the theory of
consolidation for clays as Wolmar Fellenius
we know today..

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 The development of modern
Geotechnical Engineering as a
branch of Civil Engineering is
absolutely impacted by one single
professional individual – Karl
Terzaghi.
 Generally recognized as the father
of modern soil mechanics and
geotechnical engineering.
 He started modern soil mechanics
with his theories of consolidation,
lateral earth pressures, bearing
capacity, and stability.
 His contribution has spread to
almost every topic in soil mechanics
and geotechnical engineering
covered by the text book: Effective
stress; Elastic stress distribution;
Consolidation settlement; Shear
strength; in situ testing

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IMPORTANCE OF SOIL MECHANICS

• 1.) Foundation
• All foundations for any structure that a civil engineer constructs are
bound to rest on the soil. The bigger the building or structure, the
bigger its foundation and consequently the more important it is for a
civil engineer to take into consideration the soil mechanics of the site.
The foundation is where the load the structure bears is transferred
hence understanding the soil is crucial to building a strong structure.
Hard soil with sufficient strength allows an engineer to use shallow
foundations, and the alternative is also true. Weak soil will need deep
foundations to provide robust support for the structure being put up.
• 2.) Earthen Dams
• There are so many earthen dams constructed
to retain the water. The soil to be used for the
construction of these earthen dams must be
suitable enough to use it in its construction.
Various properties of the soil, like it
permeability, strength, and density are
checked on regular basis to know if the soil
compacted to required density or not.
The earthen dams are costly structure and also
they have a high risk of getting failed, so they
must be constructed with great care, so it is
very important to study the properties of the
soil.
• 3.) Embankments
• Embankments are usually constructed to raise
the level of a road, railway or land above ground
level. There are usually several reasons
embankments are constructed. One of them is
to raise the structure above flooding level.
Anything that is built on the flat land is prone to
flooding that can destroy the structure.
Constructing the structure on an embankment
is, therefore, a way of mitigating this.
Embankments are also constructed to minimize
or reduce the change in level due to a terrain’s
profile. The embankment helps ensure the
road/railway/structure is on the same level all
through.
• 4. Retaining wall and other
underground structures
• A retaining wall is designed to hold
in place a mass of earth or the like,
such as the edge of a terrace or
excavation. The structure is
constructed to resist the lateral
pressure of soil when there is a
desired change in ground
elevation that exceeds the angle
of repose of the soil.
 WHAT IS “SOIL”?

 Soil is the mixture of minerals, organic matter, gases,

liquids, and the countless organisms that together support
life on Earth.
 Soil is considered to be the "skin of the Earth.
 It includes widely different materials like sand, gravels, clays
and silts.
 The type of soil depend upon the size of particles i.e. sandy soil,
loamy soil, etc and on the color of soil i.e. yellow soil, black soil,
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etc.
WHAT IS “SOIL”?

• A soil mass is commonly considered to consists of solid particles,

enclosed voids or interspaces. Thus, there are two constituents of
soil:
• 1.) Soil or solid particles
• 2.) Voids
SOIL

• On the basis of constituents:

1.) Dry Soil
2.) Saturated Soil
3.) Partially Saturated/Moist Soil
Formation of soil

• Weathering is the breakdown and decomposition of earth material,

namely rocks.
• 1.) Mechanical Weathering
• Frost wedging
• Thermal expansion and contraction
• Alternate wetting and drying
• 2.) Chemical Weathering
• Oxidation
• Hydrolysis
• Hydration
• Carbonic acid action
SOIL PARTICLE SIZE

• Soils generally are called gravel, sand, silt, or clay,

depending on the predominant size of particles within the
soil. To describe soils by their particle size, several
organizations have developed particle-size classifications.
 SOIL PARTICLE SIZE

• Gravels are pieces of rocks with

occasional particles of quartz,
feldspar, and other minerals.
• Sand particles are made of mostly
quartz and feldspar. Other mineral
grains also may be present at times.
• Silts are the microscopic soil fractions
that consist of very fine quartz grains
and some flake-shaped particles that
are fragments of micaceous minerals.
• Clays are mostly flake-shaped
microscopic and submicroscopic
particles of mica, clay minerals, and
other minerals.
IDENTIFICATION OF SOIL

• 1.) Visual Examination

• 2.) Feel test
• 3.) Rolling Test
• 4.) Dry Strength Test
2.) Feel test
3.) Rolling Test
4.) Dry Strength Test
WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP
Volume relationship

The volume relationships commonly used for the three phases in a

soil element are void ratio, porosity, and degree of saturation.
• Void ratio (e) is defined as the ratio of the volume of voids to the
volume of solids.

• Porosity (n) is defined as the ratio of the volume of voids to the total
volume,

• The degree of saturation (S) is defined as the ratio of the volume of

water to the volume of voids,
The relationship between void ratio and porosity can be derived from
equation 1, 2 and 3
Weight Relationship
• Moisture content
Moisture content (w) is also referred to as water content and is defined
as the ratio of the weight of water to the weight of solids in a given
volume of soil.

• Unit weight
Unit weight (g) is the weight of soil per unit volume.

Note: Soils engineers sometimes refer to the

unit weight as the moist unit weight
Weight Relationship

• Dry Unit Weight

Dry unit weight per unit volume of soil, excluding water.

the relationship of unit weight, dry unit weight, and moisture content
can be given as
Weight-Volume Relationship

• Density and Dry Density

• Specific gravity of soil solids(Gs) can be expressed as:

ɣ
Unit weight in terms of e, w and Gs
• To obtain a relationship among unit weight (or density), void ratio, and
moisture content, let us consider a volume of soil in which the volume
of the soil solids is one, as shown in the figure. If the volume of the soil
solids is 1, then the volume of voids is numerically equal to the void
ratio, e.
Unit weight in terms of e, w and Gs
Degree of Saturation

• Because the weight of water for the soil element under consideration
is , the volume occupied by water is

• Hence, from the definition of degree of saturation

This equation is useful for solving problems

involving three-phase relationships.
Saturated Unit Weight

• If the soil sample is saturated—that is, the void spaces are

completely filled with water
Density
Submerged Unit weight/Buoyant Unit Weight
and Dry Unit Weight at Zero Air Voids
• Submerged Unit Weight is the effective unit weight per unit volume
when the soil is submerged below standing water or below ground
water table.
•

• Dry unit weight at Zero air voids is the weight of solids per unit
volume of a saturated mass.